Since the first plane flew a number of countries and
their engineers have tried to design a plane with vertical take off and
landing capabilities. This has proved very difficult and at the moment
only one plane, the Harrier Jump Jet has been successful. It was
introduced during the 1960s and especially the 1970s and was a major
reason for British success during the Falklands war of 1982.

During the Second World War the German Luftwaffe
experimented with attaching rockets to planes so that they could use
shorter runways. The photograph opposite shows an early attempt.

After the war the United States Air force
carried on with this experimentation developing aircraft that had
rockets that enabled the use of shorter runways.

The USA persisted with this technology throughout the 1950s and 60s.

The Bell Aircraft Company in the USA produced the
first working prototype of a vertical lift plane, called the Bell X14.
This had two jet engines in the nose but it was under powered and could
only manage to lift its own weight.

The Ryan Company (USA) designed an usual prototype
which required a stand from which it flew. This was a radical approach
but it was very difficult to fly as it had to be hooked back on to the
stand in order to land. It was not developed further.

The USAF next developed the ‘Humming Bird’ but this
proved to be far too heavy to be practical as the engine compartment
dominated the length of the plane.

The British were also interested in vertical lift off
technology and Rolls Royce developed the ‘flying bedstead’. This device
could carry its own weight and had the advantage that it could actually
be controlled adequately by the pilot.

Shorts, the famous aircraft company based in Northern
Ireland designed and partially developed their ‘Sc1’. This had five
engines four of which were used for vertical take off. However, it could
not fly far.

Hawker Siddeley produced there first Harrier Jump Jet
as a prototype in the late 1950s. When it was first tested it had to be
held to the ground by cables and had only enough thrust to raise it a
small way off the ground.
The plane was radically different to other vertical take off prototypes
as it had only one engine which delivered thrust through four rotating
nozzles. (The Pegasus jet engine was designed by Gordon Lewis). After
years of development the Harrier Jump Jet was brought into service with
both the RAF and US Marines.
The Harrier is still used throughout the world and is still being
developed.